year: 2010
runtime: 98′
director: Neil Marshall
cast: Michael Fassbender, Olga Kurylenko,
Dominic West, Liam Cunningham,
David Morissey, Imogen Poots
writer: Neil Marshall
cinematography: Sam McCurdy
music: Ilan Eshkeri
Pre-order this film from Amazon.com:
Blu-ray
| DVD
It’s the year 117. The Roman conquest of Britain is going rather badly. Rome has been forced to a standstill by the Pictish tribes under their king Gorlacon (Ulrich Thomsen), because her military isn’t able to adapt to the guerrilla fighting techniques of her enemy. In a desperate last attempt at winning the war and saving his position, governor Agricola (Paul Freeman) decides to send the 9th legion under general Virilus (Dominic West) north to find and kill the Pictish king.
The only additional help Agricola gives Virilus is the female, tongue-less tracker Etain (Olga Kurylenko). This turns out to be a costly mistake. Etain leads the legion into a trap, and so its first contact with the enemy remains its last. Most of the men are slaughtered, Virilus captured and only a handful of Romans (like Liam Cunningham and Micky from Doctor Who – yes, we are in the usual “all Romans spoke with various UK accents” territory here) escape with their lives. Quintus Dias (Michael Fassbender), who had just escaped Pictish captivity, decides to lead the survivors into the Pictish camp to free their general.
